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Swooping, clawed quadrotor robot is coming for you and your family

Quadrotor drone can now descend on objects from the heavens and snatch them in one fell swoop. Run, hide, save yourselves

20 March 2013/9:22GMT

Not content with creating robots that can operate in groups, fling cinder blocks and climb up your guttering, scientists bent on the destruction of humanity have added a claw to a quadrotor drone and taught it to swoop on its prey. Which we're pretty sure was something that happened in The Matrix. Or was it Terminator 3?

Oh, alright, the GRASP team at the University of Pennsylvania is aiming to build lighter robots that use less power; the clawed AscTec Hummingbird drone's swooping motion uses its acceleration velocity to regain altitude quickly, which should mean that it doesn't use as much energy in picking up objects.

The drone's motion is based on that of a bird of prey, while its a three-pronged claw attached to a rotating arm – mimicking the motion of a hawk's claws as it picks up its prey. The researchers' next trick will be to attach a motion capture system to the drone, which will let it track its prey and "make in-flight corrections."